murphy



1952 w. 5. MURPHY, JR

GARMENT REINFORCEMENT Filed May 29 INVENTOR.

HTI'ORNEYS Patented Jan. 22, 1952 I E-iD T FFJICTE GARMENT REINFORCEMENT William G..M.urphy,i=.lr., N orth" Hollywood; Calif.

.ApplicatioriMay 29 1948, Serial No; 3%,108

L 2*.Claims. 1

"This inventicnrelates "to a structurally and functionally improved garment, and-especially a garment such "as a "corset or girdle; the present invention contemplating areenfcrcement for garments of these and'sirnilar =types-andby means .ofwhich-portions of-the garment will be maintained in' proper'relationship with respect to the body of the wearer.

'It is-a 'primary'object of the present invention to provide a structure by means-of which a: ment such as a girdle or corset will have portions adjacentdtsedgesreeniorced in a manner such that theseedges willhot tendto curl orbulge outwardly.

A further object is that or providing :an. Jimproved structure of this type and which in use will" be extremely comfortable so that the wearer "will" experience no pain or annoyance: in wearing :a' garment embodying'the invention.

Stillanotherobject is'that of furnishing'a reenforcingstructure-embodying a relativelyx'simple design-such that it may be 'readily' and. economically manufactured in large quantities andapplied wherever desired'to a garment so as to properly support the adjacent surfaces Lthereof.

'Withthese-and other objects in mind, refer- "once is had to the attached sheet of drawings illustrating practical embodiments of :the inven- "tion and in -which:

' Fig. 1 is i a 'front' elevation e'f :aigarment' showing one 'type of reenforcement .in association therewith;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged l transverseeectional view taken along the line 52 :and .in :thedirectionrof the arrow as indicated in Fig.1

Fig."2a is a fragmentaryaview of an alternative form of structure;

Fig. '3 is a-"fragmentary view ofthe upper porttioni, of a garment and 1 with which there. has. been associated an alternative form of ,reenforcin structure;

Fig. dis a perspective view of one-type of reenforcement constructed in accordance with :the "present teachings 'Figsaoand Tare viewsisimilar to Fig. ibut showing alternative types of. structure Figs. l6 and .8 .are .transverse -'secticnal views takenalong thelinest-fi 2a11d:2-8 respectively andin the.directionofthelines'as indicated in FigsJfi and?! ;.and

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary side elevation of an alternative form of structure.

In these views the numeral [9 indicates the body of a garment for example, a girdle or corset and which has an upper or Waist encircling portion. This'portion may be continuous or interrupted'as indicatedin'Fig. and provided with fastening means of a quick detachable type asindicated by the numeral I I; Structuresembodying .the teaching of the present invention are mounted adjacent this upper edge zone either by providing the structures-in the form of a sheath attached to the garment or else directly securinga reeniorcement to a. face ofthe garment in accordance with the present teachings. In any event, the

.reenforcement may include arcuate sections overlying desired portionsof the garment as inFig. 1, .or else extending substantially throughout 360 as in Fig. 3 ;'this, together with the particular 'design .of the garment being a'matter for-determination by the manufacturer.

.As Fig. 4 a sheath l2 of suitable material maybe provided by folding a strip of material upon itself and laying within the same a reeniorcing or stiffening member 53 which maybe .provide'dwith capped end portions [4. 'Thisstiff- .eriing member may be of'any desired type. .Conveniently, however, it includes a body of wire disposed inthe form of loops which are-flattened upon themselves in overlapping relationship. .Thusa stiffening member incorporating desired yieldingcharacteristics is furnished. This stifi- ..eningmember as .shown inFig. .4 is .arrangedin a sinuous path within the sheath and'may be securedagainst displacement by'loops l5 which extends through the body of the sheath. In

..As will'be .understood after the fAs in. Fig...,2,..a sheathmay .befiurnishe'd. by em- ..ploying layers alt-of .rnaterial which are secured .to each .other adjacent their upper .andj-lower .edgesby, .fiorexample, stitchingtl. .Asuitable .reenforcing. member l8 is-disposediin a torturous orsinuous pathsimilar to that shown in-Fig. 4

arranged within the. sheathof material. .The

upperline of stitching ll securing the material vlayers of that sheathmay alsoserveto attach the latter to thegarment. .F'ig. the. sheath with itscontained reenforce- .ment llies. snugly adjacent the inner face .of .the waist encircling portion of 1 the garment. and. due

As will be, apparent .from

to its contained reenforcement i8 will serve to properly support and stiffen that garment portion. This portion may be secured to the upper garment edge and extend above the same as shown in Fig. 2a.

As in Figs. 5 and 6 a strip 19 of material of suitable width may be employed and upon which there is disposed in a sinuous path the reenforcing member 20. The latter is secured in position by means of an overlying strip 2| conveniently secured to strip l9 by lines of stitching 22. It is, of course, to be understood that with a structure such as is shown in these latter figures a proper reenforcement is furnished and which may be suitably secured to the garment by, for example, stitching through layer 19 adjacent one of its longitudinal edges and securing it by such stitching to the garment throughout the desired zone, of the latter. Preferably the mounting strip I9 will be so secured to the garment that the covering strip 2| intervenes the body of that garment and such strip IS.

A similar result is achieved by the structure shown in Figs. '7 and 8 in which the numeral 23 again indicates the suitable reenforcement or stiffening member. The latter is contained between strips of material 24 and 25. These may be secured to each other by, for example, lines of stitching 26. These same lines of stitching may secure the element or assembly under a sinuous disposition either directly to the desired portion of the garment or to mounting strips of, for example, the character shown in Figs. 5 and 6. Also if desired, additional lines of stitching (not shown) might be employed for so mounting the assembly.

In Fig. 9 the reference numeral 27 indicates a mounting strip or else the body of the garment. In any event, a series of inter-connected pockets 28 are secured to this mounting surface by, for example, stitching. The parts being inter-connected, it follows that the bone or reenforcing member 29 may be threaded through the same and disposed in a sinuous or tortuous path. If such a construction is employed, it will not be necessary to associate the reenforcement with the garment until the final stage of manufacture of the latter. In other words, the inter-connected pockets 28 may be provided either as a part of the garment or as a part of the mounting strip. They may extend throughout desired and pro-determined zones. Only with the garment completed, will the reenforcing member 29 be threaded through the pockets to stiffen the zone of the garment.

As afore brought out, while the reenforcing member may be formed of metal and specifically looped wire it may likewise be formed of any other desired material suitable to provide a bone or reenforcement. Also, as afore-brought out, only certain portions of the garment may be thus reenforced or else a major part or the entire circumference of the garment may be stiffened. If only arcuate portions are reenforced, then 'these may conveniently overlie the hip portions of the wearer. Otherwise they may overlie the diaphragm, the back, or extend around the entire circumference. Likewise, according to the width of the zone of application of the reenforcement of the garment, the latter may extend a greater or lesser distance throughout the length of the wearers body. In any event, care should be exercised that the apices and trough portions do not present acute bends or pointed portions but are rather rounded as shown in the drawings. In this manner a structure is furfreely to the wearers movements.

nished which will not tend to bear in an uncomfortable manner against the underlying portion of the wearers torso. Also, while a suitable support will be furnished, it will in no wise interfere with the freedom of movements of the wearers body.

Regardless of whether the re-enforcement extends throughout only arcuate zones of the waist line or whether it extends throughout a major portion or all of the same, a proper support is provided. In other words, the reenforced zones of the garment will be maintained against any tendency to curl or extend outwardly. Also, by securing the sheath to the garment merely adjacent the upper edge of the latter (as in Fig. 2) the reenforcing member, while properly supporting the garment against curling adapts itself Additionally when the garment is to be cleaned no difliculty will be experienced in that the sheath may be moved away from the adjacent face of the garment or in other words hinged around the line of the stitching or anchorage by means of which it is secured to the garment.

Thus, among others, the several object of the invention as specifically afore noted are achieved. Obviously numerous changes in construction and rearrangement of the parts might be resorted to Without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the claims.

I claim:

1. A reenforcing structure for a garment including a mounting portion, pockets forming a part of said structure and extending angularly with respect to each other, the successive upper and lower ends of adjacent pockets being interconnected to provide a continuous passage extending lengthwise of said mounting portion, a single reenforcing member threaded through all of said pockets and disposed in a sinuous path through the successive pockets and said member comprising a resilient body resisting lateral flexing.

2. A reenforcement for a garment comprising a mounting member, a covering strip, said strip having its side edges secured against movement with respect to said member and spaced from each other, said covering strip moreover being disposed in a sinuous path upon said mounting member, a resilient reenforcing member disposed within the channel defined by said covering strip with its apices and trough portions being rounded and said reenforcing member being movable with respect to said mounting member within the limits defined by said covering strip.

WILLIAM G. MURPHY, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 388,936 Wheeler et al Sept. 4, 1888 1,124,582 Barcley Jan. 12, 1915 1,207,104 Wallace Dec. 5, 1916 1,213,985 Vfelsh Jan. 30, 1917 1,488,305 Adams Mar. 25, 1924 1,797,890 "Wurm Mar. 24, 1931 2,274,770 Amyot Mar. 3, 1942 

